President Trump promises West African leaders a pivot to trade as the region reels from sweeping aid cuts

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump promised West African leaders a pivot from aid to bargain during a White House meeting Wednesday as the region reels from the impact of sweeping U S aid cuts Trump reported he sees great economic anticipated in Africa as the leaders of Liberia Senegal Gabon Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau boasted of their countries natural support and heaped praise on the U S president including their thanks for his help in settling a long-running conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo Trump described the nations represented at the meeting as all very vibrant places with very valuable land great minerals and great oil deposits and wonderful people a definite shift from his first term when he used a vulgar term to describe African nations The meeting comes amid a shift in U S global and domestic priorities under Trump s leadership Earlier this month U S administration dissolved theU S Agency for International Evolution and mentioned it was no longer following what they called a charity-based foreign aid model and instead would focus on partnerships with nations that show both the ability and willingness to help themselves The five nations whose leaders were meeting Trump represent a small fraction of U S -Africa commerce but they possess untapped natural tools Senegal and Mauritania are crucial transit and origin countries when it comes to migration and along with Guinea-Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking both issues of concern for the Trump administration In their speeches each African leader adopted a flattering tone to commend Trump for what they described as his peace efforts across the world and tried to outshine one another by listing the untapped natural guidance their nations possess We have a great deal of tools stated Mohamed Ould Ghazouani president of Mauritania listing rare earths as well as manganese uranium and possibly lithium We have a lot of opportunities to offer in terms of funding The portion of the lunch meeting that was open to the press didn t touch much on the loss of aid which critics say will upshot in millions of deaths We have closed the USAID group to eliminate waste fraud and abuse Trump mentioned Wednesday And we re working tirelessly to forge new economic opportunities involving both the United States and several African nations West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of USAID The U S advocacy in Liberia amounted to of the country s gross national income the highest percentage anywhere in the world according to the Center for Global Maturation Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a comment expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit reaffirming Liberia s commitment to regional stability democratic governance and inclusive economic expansion During the meeting Trump reacted with visible surprise to Boakai s English-speaking skills which he praised English is the official language of Liberia which was established in the early s with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and free-born Black citizens from the United States Gabon Liberia Mauritania and Senegal are among countries that might be included in the feasible expansion of Trump s advance ban